The Ministry of Education began funding the Competent Children project in 1992. The first stage was a pilot study to try out the interviews, observations, and record-keeping for the main longitudinal study. Researchers observed 7 boys and 12 girls, aged between 4 and 5, in their early childhood education setting. The children did a series of tasks designed to evaluate their skills in a range of areas, and their parents or main caregivers were interviewed.